Seattle’s Transit Lanes in 2025
As 2025 comes to a close, let's take a look at the current state of transit lanes in Seattle. Since the SODO Busway opened in 1991, the City has built over 55 miles of transit lanes for buses and streetcars. To keep track of where transit lanes are and when/how they can be used, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) maintains a dataset of the City's transit lanes. This dataset does not include the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel or at-grade Link tracks. Using this dataset, the Seattle Transit Blog created a map that highlights the type and location of each transit lane. The red lines indicate 24/7 transit lanes and the blue lines indicate transit lanes with limited hours (peak only, daytime, etc). Darker lines are exclusive transit lanes while lighter shades allow some general purpose traffic, such as right turns. The table below the map has more details. Click here or on the map to view the interactive map in a new tab. Clicking/tapping a segment on the interactive map will show more details about that transit lane.
Seattle Transit Lane MapEach transit lane has been grouped into one of the seven categories below. Limited hours usually refers to peak hours or daytime hours.
| Color on Map | Category | Total Length (miles) | Example |
| Dark Red | 24/7 Transit (Exclusive) | 14.2 | West Seattle Bridge (eastbound) |
| Red | 24/7 Transit (Intersection Turns Permitted) | 7.1 | N 46th St near Aurora Ave (westbound) |
| Light Red | 24/7 Business Access and Transit (BAT) | 20.7 | Rainier Ave between MLK Way and College St (northbound) |
| Dark Blue | Limited Hours Transit (Exclusive) | 1.7 | 3rd Ave between Seneca St and Spring St |
| Blue | Limited Hours Transit (Intersection Turns Permitted) | 2.2 | 2nd Ave between University St and James St (southbound) |
| Light Blue | Limited Hours Business Access and Transit (BAT) | 8.4 | 15th Ave W between W Howe St and Gilman Dr W (northbound) |
| Peach | 24/7 Freight and Bus (FAB) | 0.5 | 4th Ave S between S Walker St and Edgar Martinez Dr S overpass (northbound) |
The map show SDOT's shift from prioritizing peak-hour bus lanes to all-day bus lanes. Most bus lanes downtown, including 3rd Ave, are older and have limited hours. Newer bus lanes, such as on Madison and Rainier, are 24/7. There are some exceptions to this, such as the peak-only bus lanes on Delridge Way (used by the H Line) that are only a few years old.
The D Line was one of the first bus routes in Seattle to run in bus lanes for a significant portion of its route. As these were installed over a decade ago, they are peak-only lanes. The E Line was in a similar boat until earlier this year when it's bus lanes were upgraded to 24/7. A similar upgrade to the peak-only bus lanes on Elliott Ave and 15th Ave is long overdue.
While overnight traffic on 3rd Ave is not an issue, extending the restrictive hours to 24/7 should be an easy win for the new administration. The transit corridor should also be extended north to Denny Way.
Seattle has two short segments of Freight and Bus (FAB) lanes on S 4th Ave and Broad St. After the 4th Ave FAB lane was installed, I incorrectly reported that it was the first such lane in the city. The Broad St FAB lane was installed sometime between December 2021 and September 2024. SDOT is planning on piloting FAB lanes on Westlake Ave once the Route 40 Transit Plus Multimodal Corridor project is complete.
Progress in 20252025 was a generally positive year for improving transit infrastructure in Seattle. King County Metro's two busiest routes both now have 24/7 transit lanes for a significant portion of their routes. In May, SDOT upgraded the BAT lanes used by the E Line on Aurora Ave to be in effect 24/7. This is technically a temporary change due to the Revive I-5 project, but it is unlikely that these bus lanes will be reverted back to peak-only hours. A few months later, the agency added a 1.1 mile northbound 24/7 BAT lane to Rainier Ave that is used by Route 7, as well as routes 4, 8, 9, 48, and 106. As part of the Route 40 Transit Plus Multimodal Corridor project, SDOT has installed a full northbound and partial southbound bus lanes on Westlake Ave between the Fremont Bridge and 9th Ave. SDOT also continued construction in Eastlake on its RapidRide J Line project. This project is expected to open in 2027 and will include two miles of new bus lanes. Wesley Lin shared a breakdown of the project last year.
Northbound Route 40 bus in a new bus lane on Westlake Ave.This has not been a perfect year for bus lanes in Seattle. The Fix the L8 campaign picked up steam as the need for bus lanes on Denny Way continues to be crystal clear. This was demonstrated in a race between Route 8 and people walking. Despite this, SDOT continues to deny the need for transit lanes. In September, SDOT surprised many people when it confirmed that a half-block transit lane on E Union St would be removed. Fortunately, transit advocates were able to save the bus lane (for now).
Looking Ahead to 2026It looks like 2026 will be a great year for transit lanes and the people who use them. Mayor-elect Katie Wilson is a transit rider and advocate who supports building more bus lanes, even on Denny Way. In October, City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck announced the Better Bus Lanes campaign to prioritize building two-way bus lanes on Denny Way from Queen Anne Avenue to Stewart St, making the temporary 24/7 bus lanes on Aurora Avenue permanent, and expanding bus reliability progress on Rainier Avenue in anticipation for RapidRide R. On top of these big corridor-focused efforts, SDOT will likely build many short transit lanes/queue jumps as spot improvements.